


The Ship of Blazing Flame

by Serriya (Keolah)



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Star Trek, Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Crossover, Elves, Gen, Time Travel, Werewolf, dragon - Freeform, spaceship, vampire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1996-01-01
Updated: 1996-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-14 04:16:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/511212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keolah/pseuds/Serriya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A group of wizards have built a ship powered by magic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ship of Blazing Flame

Across the vastness of space, an expanse of stars shines clearly. The stars do not twinkle in space, rather their light radiates steadily across the void.

A small ship hung in the star-speckled blackness, itself a stark grey and dark on the darkness. In the pale light of the still-distant star Yallia, a name could be seen, painted in red runes along one of its sweeping wings.

JEREKHANI.

Legend had it, that the very boards that were used to construct the original Jerekhani, millennia ago, had been dissembled and reassembled when the metal hull was wrought. The red-brown cherry wood now lined the floors, walls, and even made up some of the furniture within the new ship.

But, where the old Jerekhani was meant to sail upon the sea, the new one was meant to soar through space.

And soar it did. It was now approaching Yallia, which was the system of Lezaria, its home port. Newly out of a long-lasting medieval era, the world of Lezaria now reached toward the stars with ships capable of time travel, powered by Swamps enchantments and strong Elkandu magic. It was said, that the greatest power came from the unity of magic and technology. The latest age of Lezaria proved this.

"Bring her in slow, Streyka," said Keolah. "It has been a rather successful flight, for her maiden voyage, wouldn't you say?"

"Aye, I would say so, Seeker," replied Streyka from the helm.

Keolah Kedaire looked around at her crew--Elkandu all. Some were only nominally affiliated with the Elkandu and its factions, but all shared the one thing that made them all of one kind: magic stronger than the ages, and immortality in which to wield it. Many Elkandu were cruel, while others were gentle, some were selfish, some were selfless. But all agreed that destroying the universe would serve no purpose, so worked to therefore preserve it in all its splendour and diversity.

A vast window, enhanced by an invisibile forcefield, dominated the front of the bridge. As Keolah watched, the blue-green globe of Lezaria came into view, its oceans vibrant as sapphires, its forests and mountains etched into the face of the world. It was a sight to take one's breath away.

"Slowly, Streyka, the forcefields are strong but I don't want to take any chances."

"Please," Streyka said, "Call me Lieutenant."

"Why Lieutenant?" wondered Keolah.

"Because it makes me sound like I know what I'm doing."

Keolah chuckled politely. "Very well, Lieutenant. You know you'll be Captain before the day is out."

The ship lurched slightly as Streyka controlled her surprise. "C-Captain?"

"Aye, Streyka, I'll be leaving this baby to you. Have fun with her."

Startled, Streyka continued to work the controls to bring Jerekhani into the atmosphere. "I hate to ask, but, why me?"

"Would you rather have... Hawthorne?"

"I see your point," Streyka admitted.

"Alright, bring her in on the Elkandu base above Dalizar."

"As you wish, Seeker."

Streyka managed to land the little ship without jostling them too much. A view of a vast, rocky grassland had replaced the stars on the front window. Keolah glanced around her, looking at the expectant Elkandu standing about her, waiting on her word.

"Time to do something resembling something official. Like Streyka implied, even if we don't know what we're doing, we should at least sound like we do."

Scregor, standing to her right, chuckled softly. Even though he appeared to be a dwarf, his chuckle was deep and loud, more reminiscent of a dragon than a dwarf.

"I'm good at organizing things," Keolah said. Barely contained laughter flitted across the bridge. "Scregor, you can be Chief of Security."

"Titles are fine," Scregor commented. "Explanation please? What's my job."

"Glare around you, look important, and deck anyone that gives you trouble."

"Gotcha."

"Swamp, you're the Chief Engineer," Keolah pointed at the albino man in the corner.

"Why do we need an engineer? We have no engines," Swamp smirked.

"Magical engineer. Close enough. Your job is to make sure the ship keeps running, keep the magic in order, make sure it doesn't falter. Because if it does, you go boom with the ship, so don't try anything funny."

Swamp glowered a bit, but nodded tersely.

"Kithere," Keolah announced, looking to her sister. "Your the Chief Medic."

"Medic? Don't you mean cleric?" Kithere said in confusion.

"Whatever."

"Streyka," said Keolah. "You run this bucket of wood. Don't break her."

"Do I get a pretty title too?" Streyka said hopefully.

"Sure, Captain."

Streyka whimpered. "I wanted to be a Lieutenant!"

Keolah pondered at Streyka. The young half-elf obviously had no idea what either term really meant.

"Captain's easier to spell," Keolah said finally.

Keolah turned to a shadowy corner, where stood a tall woman garbed in a blood-red dress.

"Vanankyte Venari," she addressed the woman. Vanankyte licked her lips, unconsciously baring the fangs that revealed her vampiric nature.

"I'll do Security," the vampiress drawled.

"Hawthorne," Keolah turned.

"Ditto," replied the elfwoman, polishing her sword.

"This is gonna be one secure ship," Keolah commented wryly. "You guys can figure the rest out on your own. I need a vacation."

With that, Keolah vacated.

Streyka grinned wickedly around the bridge. "This'll be fun," she declared. "We shall be the greatest pirates that ever sailed the skies."

Kithere frowned, looking concerned, but Swamp, among others, grew exited at this prospect.

"Streyka, I must protest--" Kithere was cut off.

"That's Captain Streyka to you."

"--the Jerekhani fought pirates, it was not a pirate ship."

"Times change, don't they?" Streyka smirked. "Anybody want to navigate? I need a navigator. Who has a map?"

They looked about themselves, looking for someone who had a good enough sense of direction to avoid killing them all. Eventually they pointed to Rettah, a half-elf werewolf from Anda.

"Very well, Rettah, take the helm," said Streyka with a gesture. "Security! Go, secure something." She waved them toward the elevator. The fighters filed into the elevator, leaving the bridge slightly less crowded. "Medic, go fix yourself up a sickbay." Kithere nodded a bit ruefully and left the bridge as well. "Engineer! Glower elsewhere." Swamp glowered off the bridge. "The rest of you, stand around and look important. Go fiddle with all those terminals or something. Look like your busy."

Sarveta prompty proclaimed herself Head of Diplomatic Interaction and Public Relations, because she said she was good at dealing with people.

"Helm! Let's go! Now!"

"Aye, Captain," Rettah replied with a shrug. With her yellow eyes, Rettah examined the navigation panel, hit a few buttons, and the Jerekhani obediantly lifted into the air.

The skies of Lezaria fell away as the ship blazed into the skies, streaks of red fire streaming behind it. The ship of blazing fires blazed once again.

"What shall we do first?" asked Arsathia, who had appointed herself to the sciences department.

"We have a whole universe to explore," Streyka pondered. "And eternity to do it in. Shall we?"  
Rettah smiled at Streyka with a feral grin. "Anyplace in particular to start, or shall I just point her to the nearest star and go?"

Streyka nodded. "May our magic never falter. Let's go."

The werewolf Rettah punched in a few settings on the control panel, and pulled a few levers. The Jerekhani turned to the right, away from Yallia, away from its homeworld of Lezaria. Then, she double-checked the settings, and pressed a large red button.

The crew was immediately thrown back in their seats, and those that were not seated lost their footing and fell to the ground. But soon gravity normaled out, the magical motion compensators finally adjusting completely.

Streyka hit the button on the intercom, and used the magic of Speech to contact the enchantment engineering room. "Swamp, what happened?"

"The motion compensators had underestimated the thrust of the power of Motion Magic in full force, but my work on this ship was brilliant. It learns from everything, and has already adjusted itself for spaceflight. That particular problem will never happen again."

"Good," Streyka said, beaming. "Good work, Swamp. Very good."

* * *

**Technical Data**

The Jerekhani had been decades in the designing and construction, for Swamp and the other Elkandu involved had wanted to cover every detail possible and make it as good as they could before sending it up. Since they had eternity to work with, certainly perfection was not an impossible goal. And what was the sense in sending people up as an experiment only to have something go wrong or think of something they forgot in mid-flight? Even so, many small things were added in flight, mostly for convinience that had been overlooked in the original design. Fortunately the crew was made up entirely of Elkandu given limited Enchantment power by Swamp, so they could make such adjustments easily.

The outer hull was of solid steel tempered with the power of Security Magic. They created triple-layer glass with forcefields for protection as windows. The forcefields were altered with the power of Seeking, as well as the power of Illusion, so that they could double as viewscreens. The entire hull was also enchanted with the power of Motion Magic, so that it could movie smoothly at will. If the hull was pierced, double layers from the nearby sections could slide to cover it and repair itself with modified Healing magics.

The ship had no engines. It used its entire hull to move through space. When it achieved very high speeds, it could also call upon the magic of Time. The ship could warp time about itself to travel at speeds faster than light, and even travel through time itself if it so chose.  
In many ways, the Jerekhani had become a living entity, intelligent, growing, learning, more organic than not.

The power of Speech Magic, was infused into the ship as well. Anyone on the ship could speak with anyone else on the ship at will, as well as the ship itself being able to speak with those upon it.

Most importantly, the power of Mind was infused into the Jerekhani. It was very subtle, for it was a dangerous power to work with, but its influence was pervasive. The intelligence of all on board was enhanced slightly just by the presence of this magic. Often the crew would seem mildly psychic, being able to know important things they had no way of knowing. If the ship was damaged, everyone knew it immediately. The crew also had rapid learning about how to work the ship, and sometimes, after spending a long time on board, could learn entire skills they had never practiced, only from being around those that knew them. As well as that, the ship had a way of understanding the intentions of those on board, and being able to compensate for them even if they entered settings incorrectly.

The magic of Speech and Mind came together in the translation capabilities of the Jerekhani. Anyone on board could understand anyone else as if they had always known that language.  
The Jerekhani had weapons systems as well, being able to harness the powers of Fire, Ice, and Lightning. Wind Magic, allowed it to safely fly through the atmosphere of a planet, as well as providing breathable air within the vessel. 

Different aspects of Khan and Kharina provided the lights within the ship. Water Magic, provided clean drinking water, cold when mixed with Ice Magic, or hot when with Fire Magic. Fire and Ice Magic also regulated the temperatures and kept out the bitter cold of outer space, keeping those within the ship as warm as they liked it without overheating. This effect often made uninhabited decks chilly at first, or caused auras of heat or cold to surround certain crew members.

Jerekhani also had no sickbay, precisely, for those magics which could heal were prevalent throughout the entire ship. However, one location was set aside with twenty beds next to one of the ship's gardens. In that particular garden grew a variety of herbs, mostly medicinal.  
The doors on the ship were sealed with Security Magic and opened with Motion Magic.  
The Jerekhani was magic at its finest, the Elkandu's greatest achievement for millenia to come. It was a self-contained intelligent being existing entirely through magic.

* * *

Rettah, however, was a bit nervous. "We shouldn't have to depend entirely on magic," she said quietly. "There are parts of the universe where magic doesn't work, you know."

"Nonsense," Streyka scoffed.

But Pelarin nodded in agreement. "It's true, remember the pocket-world crisis? The Drakandu and Kalkandu were almost destroyed."

Streyka grumbled under her breath. "And you suggest we do what?"

"We could go to Terra and pick up some of their technology," Pelarin said quietly. "I don't entirely trust Terra's technology, but it should be perfectly safe if we're careful about it."

"Rettah, take us to Terra."

"Aye, Cap'n," Rettah nodded. She touched a few buttons, her fingers almost like claws as she did, and to Terra the ship shot through the darkness. 

The crew felt momentarily disoriented, and time lost any meaning to them. It could have been seconds or centuries that they arrived in the system of the star named Sol.

"What happened?" Streyka demanded of Swamp.

"The ship's Time Magic kicked in," Swamp's voice came back. "We appear to have inadvertently gone back in time as well."

"Oops," breathed Rettah.

Suddenly, all the lights went out as they neared Terra. In the fiery light through the forcefield they could see the planet screaming toward them, and realized that they had made a grave error in judgment.

* * *

"Can somebody figure out the date?" Streyka asked as the Elkandu pulled themselves out of the mostly-intact Jerekhani. The ship's magic had held out partly until it had made impact, so the damage wasn't too extensive besides no magic working. Without their magic, the Elkandu were as good as blind, deaf, and mute.

"We're going to have to explore," Arsathia murmured. "Hopefully we can find enough technology or a mana well that will get us off this rock."

Streyka nodded. She looked out across the empty field they had landed in. No sign of civilization was in sight. No trace of mana remaining flitted across this desolate realm.

"Let's split up," Streyka announced. "We'll cover more ground that way. And one group should stay here full-time to watch the ship and try to get it working again. We can rotate that shift."

Swamp glowered a bit, irritated to no end that he hadn't thought of adding a mana well into his brilliant design. "I'll stay at the ship," he growled.

Streyka nodded. "Scregor, Kithere, you two are with me. Anyone else wants to go with my group, say so, but I want Scregor and Kithere."

Scregor nodded tersely, his eyes flickering dangerously as with fire. Streyka could usually hold her own battles, but Scregor had greater endurance. What Kithere couldn't do with healing magic, she could do with herbs and such.

When no one else volunteered to go with Streyka, she said, "Very well, we three shall go together. Report back at sunset with any findings."

With that, Streyka, Scregor, and Kithere set off to the east, into the sunrise.


End file.
